SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have arrested a 22-year-old officer over the alleged swindle of the family of a deceased man, a crime the suspect says he committed to cover smartphone bills, reports TV Asahi (Oct. 20).
On September 27, Daisuke Ishikawa, an officer in the detective section of the Soka Police Station, is alleged to have falsely told the eldest daughter of a deceased 82-year-old man over the telephone that she must pay 820,000 yen in cash to cover the post-mortem certificate.
The following month, Ishikawa allegedly requested an additional 2 million yen.

The matter emerged when the daughter consulted with police. Ishikawa was arrested on suspicion of fraud and attempted fraud in October 19.
During questioning, Ishikawa admitted to the allegations, telling the Urawa-Nishi Police Station that he had accumulated more than 200,000 yen in debt to consumer-finance companies. “I did it to cover the debt and smartphone bills,” the suspect was quoted by police.